


Lava Ice Rink

by honeywritessometimes



Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 09:55:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20405812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeywritessometimes/pseuds/honeywritessometimes
Summary: Stress is unable to deal with the side effects of the cold any longer and lashes out at herself.





	Lava Ice Rink

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write some stress angst inspired by “LAVAICERINK” by cavetown! Mainly by the line “I can’t think straight, I froze some lava and I put on my ice skates.”
> 
> I also made art for it on my tumblr (honeymakeshappy)!

Living in the Ice Spikes had affected Stress more than she'd assumed it would.

She knew of the properties different biomes had, as everyone had quickly learned about when first exploring.

She'd seen Cleo spend too much time in the desert and grow husk-like, voice hoarse, skin dry and desaturated.

She'd seen how Grian and Mumbo, who'd opted to stay in the ocean, would come out from their bases dripping and smelling of salt.

She'd witnessed Tango, a frequent habitant of the Nether, dip his feet in lava idly, her hand sparking briefly when she shook his.

It wasn't uncommon for a hermit to develop properties from the biomes they spent time in, but for the most part, the effects would slowly subside the longer they spent away from said biome.

And Stress had expected the same to happen to her, when people started commenting on how cold her hands were, on how her breath was visible when she laughed.

She hadn't minded at first. She actually quite liked it, since she had a strong aversion to heat anyways.

But the longer she spent in her base, the more extreme were the side effects.

She remembered the first time it bothered her. She'd been having hot drinks with a small group of friends, chatting and laughing.

Iskall had handed her a cup of steaming tea when he'd sat back down to join them, having grabbed drinks for the both of them.

"Thank you," she'd said, smiling warmly, taking the cup into her hands. He simply nodded in response and cracked a joke towards Ren, who laughed.

She couldn't remember the joke for the life of her, or what the conversation was about. All she remembered was giggling before taking a sip of her tea, which had grown freezing in her hands. It stung her throat and her eyes teared up a bit, going quiet.

And that was when she realized she'd forgotten what it was like to feel warm.

And when the thick blankets she slept with were never enough, and when her friends began to shiver when she hugged them, and when she couldn't take a shower without most of the droplets freezing solid upon contact, she made the decision to leave until things went back to normal.

But they didn’t.

Perhaps it was a problem with her. Perhaps she'd spent too long in the biome and it became permanent. But nothing changed.

On top of the lack of change, she couldn't stay in other biomes too long without feeling like she was suffocating from heat. Everything else was suddenly too heavy, too humid, too warm, and she would only be able to breathe normally in the chilly air of the Ice Spikes.

She grew sick of the cold, angry towards it, furious towards herself. Nothing felt okay anymore. She'd begun to feel completely numb, physically and emotionally.

And so there she kneeled, sat atop thick ice while lacing her ice skates onto her feet hurriedly. In a sudden and blind fit of panic over her the cold, she decided to stop at nothing just to feel warm once more, even if it would burn her alive.

Anything to remember the heat again.

So when she rose, gaining her footing clumsily, she stared out into the endless abyss of ice before her.

She used to love ice skating. It brought her so much joy to slide along the ice as if she was flying, laughing and laughing until her cheeks and stomach ached, spinning and turning joyfully, a smile never leaving her face. She remembered closing her eyes to the cold, zipping around the ground easily, gracefully, trusting the ice around her.

Now she looked out into the distance emptily, her gaze vacant and cold.

It was as if even her heart needed thawing.

She tapped at the air twice, inventory appearing before her. She dragged an item into her hotbar, tapping the inventory closed, and tapped the item, watching as it manifested physically in her hands, three dimensional.

Holding the bucket, carefully she began moving forward, slowly, gracefully as she used to, face still and serious. Spinning herself in light, rhythmic circles, she took a deep breath, and poured the lava out in front of her. It bubbled menacingly, flowing towards her feet, and she swerved away instinctively.

Then she thrust herself forward, feet coming into contact with the lava.

It burned like the fiery pits of hell, through the skates, onto her skin, and she let out an ear-splitting scream of pain, falling to her knees, more bare skin coming into contact with the lava.

She screamed again, tears streaming down her face, freezer-burn worse than she'd ever experienced, the pain unbearable.

The pain began to subside while she sobbed and screamed, starting, to her horror, to cool. She looked down, seeing dark, solid rock against her legs in place of the lava. Throwing herself down onto it and sobbing, she felt the rock begin to grow colder, and her tears were beginning to freeze, sticking to her face. She lay there, bent over the rock that covered her knees, crying lightly.

"Stress!"

A voice was called her name out in alarm from above her. Unable to lift her head properly, she heard the figure land lightly in front of her.

"False..?" She hated how dry her voice sounded even while it was soaked with emotion. Everything about her was so cold.

False must have heard her screams, and the woman bent down and reached out a hand tentatively, face contorted in fear and concern.

Her voice betrayed none of that, however, a calm and gentle, "_there now_".

The hand that had been reached out moved to bring her closer to False, and the woman embraced her cautiously.

"It's alright," her friend said, worry and uncertainty creeping into her voice now.

Stress gasped as the arms wrapped around her, gentle, friendly, and _warm_. She thrust herself immediately into the others arms, feeling hot tears spill down her cheeks.

"Hey, now, I've got you," False laughed kindly, "there's no need for that."

"But," Stress' voice broke, and she tried again, "But I'm so _cold_."

False knew Stress was concerned about her and how she'd handle the ice, but she simply smiled and rubbed her friend's back softly.

"That's alright," she let out a soft laugh again, "We'll hug till I freeze tonight if we have to."

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr for the art i made of this fic (honeymakeshappy).
> 
> Inspired by the song “LAVAICERINK”!
> 
> Check out my other Hermitcraft story (long-term) Background Noise!


End file.
